Coca-Cola continues low-sugar push with new healthier line of juices (Video)

The Coca-Cola Co. is bolstering its presence in the juice market and furthering its push to produce low-sugar beverages.

Simply Beverages announced Monday that it's introducing a new, healthier line of juices. Simply Light beverages have been made available nationwide and will offer four different flavors: Simply Light Orange Pulp Free, Simply Light Orange with Calcium & Vitamin D, Simply Light Lemonade and Simply Light Lemonade with Raspberry.

The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) debuted the Simply line in 2001.

The new line of beverages targets 25 to 49-year-olds, a critical consumer group for Simply Beverages. Brand director Kelly Marx is also hopeful that the new line can bring back some consumers that have left the brand and believes that the Simply Light beverages can be "very incremental" to the company's business.

The new Simply Light beverages also provide much less sugar and calories from the original Simply Beverages. The Light Orange flavors have approximately half of the sugar and calories of Simply Orange, while the Light Lemonades have 75 percent less sugar and less calories than Simply Lemonade.

The healthier nature of the new beverages lines up with the vision laid out by Coca-Cola in its 2017 Sustainability Report, in which it states the company's plans to reduce sugar in over 400 drinks.

“We know consumers are increasingly looking for lower-calorie, lower-sugar beverages, and that their options in the juice category are limited,” Kelly Marx, the brand director of Simply Beverages, said. “We also know Simply fans have come to expect great taste from their favorite juices and ades, so we kept that in mind throughout the development.”

The release of Simply Light beverages in America was not the only steps that Coca-Cola took towards building its juice brand.

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa invested $70 million to build a new filling line that will target new products and expand its move towards drinks aside from soda in the global spectrum.

Coca-Cola is hoping to provide a "more complete beverage solution," according to Daryl Wilson, the managing director of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, Kenya, in an interview with CNBC Africa. Wilson expressed that the company is looking to go beyond expanding its production of juices and is hoping to produce a wider variety of other beverages, such as sports drinks and alkaline waters.

While the new juice line and investment into the Kenyan plant is consistent with the company's previously-stated intentions, Coca-Cola also saw net revenues decline 16 percent in the first quarter of 2018, according to its earnings report. Now, the company has stepped up its investment in the juices market less than one month after that report was released.